The use of touch-sensitive surfaces as input devices for computers and other electronic computing devices has increased significantly in recent years. Exemplary touch-sensitive surfaces include touch pads and touch screen displays. Such surfaces are widely used to manipulate user interface objects on a display.
Exemplary manipulations include entering characters using one or more soft keyboards. A user may need to perform such manipulations on user interface objects in any program or application where character input is needed.
But existing methods for using such keyboards are cumbersome and inefficient. For example, buttons for hiding the keyboard or switching to a different language keyboard can be unintentionally activated while typing on the keyboard, which makes the text entry experience tedious and creates a significant cognitive burden on a user. In addition, some conventional methods take longer than necessary to complete a task, thereby wasting a user's time and a device's power reserve, which can be particularly important consideration for battery-operated devices.